Chief Agriculture Policy Economist at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/17/504
Location: Côte d’Ivoire
Grade: PL3
Position N°: 50078433

The Hiring Department

• The Agriculture, Human and Social Development Complex leads in implementing two of the five goals, namely “Feed Africa” and “Improve the Quality of Life for Africans”.
• The complex comprises four departments:
  • Agriculture and Agro-Industry Development;
  • Agriculture Finance and Rural Development;
  • Gender, Women and Civil Society; and
  • Water, Human and Social Development.
• The Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department provides support for the delivery of Feed Africa: Strategy for Agricultural Transformation in Africa, 2016-2025.
• The strategy aims to end hunger and rural poverty in the next decade through self-sufficiency in 15 priority commodity value chains specific to the continent’s agro-ecological zones.
• Realizing the objectives set forth in the strategy requires increased productivity; value addition; investment in infrastructure; an enabling agribusiness environment; capital flows; and inclusivity, sustainability and effective nutrition.
• The Department leads the effort to transform African agricultural systems for greater competitiveness, inclusivity and sustainability, and for enhanced job creation and poverty reduction.

The Position

• The Chief Agricultural Policy Economist provides strategic technical leadership in policy analysis and development to facilitate an enabling environment for the successful implementation of the Feed Africa strategy.
• Policy areas may include:
  • Smart input subsidies,
  • Incentives for local production and processing,
  • Financial sector deepening, and
  • Regional integration and trade.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the general supervision of the Director, AHAI and working in close collaboration with the Division Managers and Task Managers, the Chief Agricultural Policy Economist will perform the following:

• Contribute to a transformative and enabling institutional, policy and legal environment for the creation of sustainable businesses and employment in agriculture, well-aligned with national and regional plans and strategies in agriculture transformation;
• Develop the Bank’s existing skill set in policy analysis to ensure that it can advise RMCs, RECs and other bodies on key levers within the overall policy matrix critical to driving agricultural transformation;
• Strengthen the Bank’s capacity on policy development, implementation, and evaluation surrounding the promotion of Feed Africa’s 18 priority value chains;
• Work with RMCs and the private sector to broaden their awareness on policy issues that affect business and farm production;
• Support RMC policy reforms to enable technology transfer along the agriculture value chain;
• Provide policy support to ensure Feed Africa’s 18 value chains are inclusive of gender concerns and youth participation;
• Participates in complex project cycle activities;
• Facilitate training for task managers on agricultural policy aspects of agricultural project development;
• Participate in preparing country strategy papers and operational policies for complex and niche projects,;
• Provide technical situational analysis and overview of the major constraints in the agricultural sectors including information on how these constraints affect youth and women;
• Conduct analysis and produce high-level analytical reports on policy frameworks to assist stakeholders in decision-making; and
• Help identify windows of opportunity for ensuring food security and nutrition objectives are met.

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Hold at least a Master's degree (or equivalent) in Social Policy, Public Policy, Political Sciences, Agricultural Economics, Development Economics; or related fields.
• At least seven (7) years of relevant experience five (05) of which should be in multilateral development institutions developing and implementing agriculture policy.
• Sufficient Knowledge of the Research and Development field and its relation to agricultural and rural development
• Experience in policy analysis in the field of agriculture, food security, and/or nutrition
• Experience working in Africa is advantageous
• Publications in agriculture a plus
• Experience in private sector is advantageous
• Excellent capacity to carry out policy and political economy analysis in the field of agriculture
• Sound understanding of value chain structure and dynamics
• Sound capacity to carry out socio-economic analysis and impact assessment, particularly in relation to food security and nutrition
• Knowledge of the regulatory framework related to small and medium enterprises, business finance, and agricultural development
• Demonstrated capacity to produce high-level analytical reports and policy briefs
• Good knowledge of Bank processes and procedures is a plus;
• Commitment to search for and produce innovative and creative approaches to activities in order to enhance performance and create added benefits to the Bank and its clients;
• Problem solving capacity under time constraints;
• Ability to work and integrate multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional dimension in his/her inputs;
• Ability to facilitate / moderate technical debates and synthesize their outcome;
• Client Orientation
• Team working and relationships
• Ability to communicate and write effectively in French or English languages, preferably with a working knowledge of the other language.
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint); knowledge of SAP is desirable.